16 bodies, ten of them women and three teenage boys, are recovered after 24 hours of an industrial incident when a three-storey factory building owned by a pharmaceutical company caved in after a huge blast in Lahore. The huge blast was apparently caused either by the boiler or by gas cylinders in the boiler section of the factory. The building collapsed trapping over 50 workers, most of them young women and child labor. The factory was located in a residential area and the blast also destroyed an adjacent house and partially damaged another. - IV445 - February 2012 / Pakistan

With the summary execution of Osama bin Laden on the orders of Barack Obama in May 2011, Pakistan returned to the top of the international agenda. Some have said that the disappearance of the leader of al-Qaida did not change much. That may be true for the Arab world. But for Washington and Islamabad, the case is far from incidental. It sharpens the contradictions at work in Pakistani society. It highlights the conflicts of interest that undermine the alliance with the United States. [This article was written in French in May 2011 and has only now been translated into English by International Viewpoint.] - IV445 - February 2012 / Pakistan, War drive, India

As of January 10, 2012, six thousand seventy-five (6075) euros were collected and five thousand nine hundred (5900) euros were sent in the framework of the ongoing solidarity campaign for Pakistan. The donations were transferred through the Pakistani organization, Labour Education Foundation (LEF) with which ESSF has been collaborating for a long time now for various solidarity initiatives. - News from around the world / Pakistan

Just over a year ago, Salmaan Taseer, governor of Pakistan's largest province, the Punjab, was assassinated in the most cowardly manner by a government-assigned security guard in federal capital, Islamabad. The killer, a trained commando of the Punjab Elite Force, Mumtaz Qadri, pumped 27 bullets into the Governor's back as he headed to his car on the afternoon of January 4, 2012. - IV444 - January 2012 / Pakistan

Tehreek Insaaf is in fast forward mode to become the latest political party of the capitalist and feudal class. Originating in the middle class, it is en route to becoming the third largest party of the rich in Pakistan. - IV443 - December 2011 / Pakistan

The Pakistan Afghan Progressive parties two days conference ended December 22 in Lahore. It was first time after decades that a formal meeting was organised between the progressive groups of the two countries. It was attended by 10 political groups from both countries, four from Afghanistan and six from Pakistan. Almost all the main Left groups of Pakistan attended this conference. It was chaired by three young activists, Sonia Qadir, Ammar Ali Jan and Aman Karriaper. This is the joint declaration it agreed. - IV443 - December 2011 / Pakistan, Afghanistan

Labour Start have launched a petition in support of jailed trade unionists in the Punjab. - News from around the world / Pakistan, Trade unions

Several supporters and members of Labour Party Pakistan are locked up in different jails of Pakistan. 9 textile workers including Fazal Ilahi a leading member of LPP are in Faisalabad jail. 15 activists are in Gilgit jail including Baba Jan, en elected member of LPP Federal Committee. They are not terrorists. They are political activists. However, all of them are charged with anti terrorist laws. - IV442 - November 2011 / Pakistan

As you all are aware, six labor leaders from Faisalabad have been handed jail sentences of 490 years in total. Their only crime was to lead a peaceful strike for an increase in minimum wages as announced by the government. They are Akbar Ali Kamboh, Babar Shafiq Randhawa, Fazal Elahi, Rana Riaz Ahmed Muhammad Aslam Malik and Asghar Ali Ansari. Four of them were arrested in July 2010 while the other two were arrested in July 2011 on the same charges. - IV442 - November 2011 / Pakistan

Leftwing political parties, trade unions, social activists and student groups at a press conference in the Labour Party office on Wednesday 19 October invited people to join them in an Occupy Lahore: Anti-Capitalist camp at 1 pm Nasir Bagh. The camp shall continue for at least two days. A program for the camp will be announced soon. - IV441 - October 2011 / Economy, Pakistan, Global Justice